This New Dove Campaign Is a Win for Your Hair

At this point, you've undoubtedly seen at least one Dove ad. The brand has built an advertising empire on uplifting campaigns engineered for maximum heartstring-tugging, tackling topics like body image and self-esteem. Now the brand is turning its attention to the vast, individualistic world of women's hair with a new ad that will give you all the feels.

Now, we shouldn't have to tell you that not all women aspire to have long, silky-brown waves—despite what Google searches of "beautiful hair" may signify—but somehow, silky waves remains the thing we see most in advertisements about women's hair. And what women see in advertisements really does have an effect on their self-esteem, according to a new study (commissioned by Dove, to be fair): Following the brand's #LoveYourCurls campaign last year, there was apparently a 20 percent drop in women hating on their hair on social media.

It's tough to say conclusively that there's a direct correlation, there is definitely some truth to those numbers. According to our trend-tracking system, the Lipstick Index—which pulls data based on conversations women are having on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter—there's been steady growth in women talking about natural hair, box braids, rainbow hair—all signs pointing to the fact that we all just want to be ourselves, not conform to a single (outdated) notion of what's considered "beautiful."